Take Away the Saints

Below the Surface : Part 1 || Cynthia Varady

Saka sat cross-legged atop Boadicea's scratched and dented hull, double-checking her gear. The ship rocked in the gently rolling waves, the soft splash against the hull was the only sound to be heard. Before Saka could go over her equipment a third time, a sure sign she was stalling, she sighed and suited up.

She took precautions having heard tales, albethey tall tales, of the vicious monsters lurking beneath the planet's benign aqua surface. She donned a wetsuit woven through with a durable polymer to dissuade punctures from toothy beasts, although she could still be crushed between massive jaws. A thought she forced from her head. The toothless man who had sold her the spear gun she now strapped to her back had promised its accuracy and effectiveness. She hoped it worked better than whatever the old man had used for dental care. Her headlamp and backup flashlight were fully charged, and the aqua breather she secured over her mouth and nose was in proper working order. The dive computer was bulky, covering most of her left forearm, but necessary for keeping her on course and in touch with Boadicea as well as for activating the aqua breathers built in radio. Finally, the stone key, the most vital piece of all. She brushed her dark hand over its smooth surface, her fingers trailing over raised glyphs populating the gray stone.

Confident she had everything needed to resurrect the ancient treasure, Saka took one last look around the vast watery wasteland and tucked the artifact into the zippered pocket of her wetsuit before lowering herself into the planet's liquid blue depths.

Once in the water, she activated the ship's cloaking device via the dive computer. The smooth static from the unused radio frequency hissed gently in her ears, a soothing reminder of her solitude. Above, Boadicea now matched the blue sea in which she bobbed, however, the view below was a different story. The trek-worn vehicle looked just as she always did; off-white and pocked with craters. As Saka rolled to take a last look at her ship before diving toward her quarry, she noticed something flicker at Boadicea's tail.

In the filtered murky light, the unexpected light source blipped and flashed. Frowning, Saka kicked towards the mysterious yellow pulse. The light was emanating from a small black cube, no larger than the antique Zippo lighter she'd won years ago during a craps game in a darkened alley on some non-descript port planet. She ran her hand over the small tracking device and swore under the breather.